Press Release – TSD Communication: A Step Towards Fairer Trade Agreements?

Brussels, 22 June 2022 – Today, the European Commission has unveiled the new Trade and Sustainable Development (‘TSD’) communication: The power of trade partnerships: together for green and just economic growth‘. Executive Vice-President Valdis Dombrovskis led and presented the development of this communication in the context of the Trade and Sustainable Development Chapters in EU Trade Agreements.

The Fair Trade movement welcomes the Commission’s initiative to revise the 15-point action plan for Trade and Sustainable development as well as the Communication’s recognized six policy priorities.

The Fair Trade movement, on the other hand, regrets that the Communication fails to take into account other explicit recommendations presented to the Commission by civil society organizations in several instances; the focus on environmental and energy transition only and the affirmation that TSD chapters (as well as bilateral and multilateral cooperation) are meant to supplement autonomous measures.

READ THE FULL PRESS RELEASE HERE